5 Reasons That The AZ Shooter Jared Loughner Is A Teabagger

Jared Loughner may not have attended a Tea Party rally or registered with any Tea Party groups, but he shares several similarities with the Tea Party movement.

1. Anger Against The Government

The first obviously is his anger against the government. His violent act reflected the anger against government for health care, and immigration symbolized by Sarah Palin’s placement of Rep. Gifford in the crosshairs of gun.

While Loughner’s rants may seem like those of a madmen, so do most rants from Tea Party members. Several elements from Loughner’s rants directly tie him the Patriot Movement, anti-New World Order crowd, that is prominent in the Tea Party.

Also like many people in the Tea Party, Loughner was a conspiracy theorist. He believed in a New World Order conspiracy and global currency plot, not unlike the Patriot Movement section of the Tea Party, represented by Alex Jones and Ron Paul. His views on currency also mirror Ron Paul’s and the Patriot movement’s according to the SPLC.

4. Connected To White Supremacist Organization

According to Fox News, the Department Of Homeland Security has tied Loughner to American Renaissance, a pro-Tea Party white supremacist organization. Both the NAACP and myself have connected the Tea Party to several white supremacist organizations.

5. Ayn Rand Fan

Loughner listed Ayn Rand’s “We Are Living” as one of his favorite books. Ayn Rand is Tea Party hero credited with inspiring its philosophy.

The Patriot movement, which is having a big resurgence under the Tea Party, has produced several right wing terrorists. The first one, Timothy McVeigh, a New World Order fearing conspiracy theorist with ties to white supremacists like Loughner, killed 168 people in a terror attack in 1995. James Von Brunn the Holocaust shooter who killed a security guard at the Holocaust museum in Washington D.C. was another right wing terrorist who ranted against the federal reserve, supported Tea Party favorite, Ron Paul and posted on the right wing website, Free Republic.

Byron Williams was inspired by another Tea Party icon, Glenn Beck to plan out an assassination attempt of leaders of the Tides Foundation and the ACLU in an act of terror in 2010 before he was pulled over by police and had a shootout with them.

The elements that had a role in Loughner’s deranged world view, that lead to his atrocious act are all active in the Tea Party, a strong hatred of government, a belief in conspiracy theories, and racism.

Republican leaders must recognize the presence of conspiracy theories, racism, and anti-government resentment in the Tea Party if they are going to incorporate the Tea Party into the GOP. They either need to speak out against these elements or take responsibility next time some McVeigh, Loughner, Bedell, or Williams kills innocent people in a senseless act of terror. In the same way they blame radical Islamic clerics, for the acts of terrorists, leaders and activists on the right must take accountability for the actions of their followers and who they influence.